HH-888 Herf: Recollections of a Marshall Commander
by Keytchtee
Summary: This is a retelling of the Clone Wars from the perspective of one of millions of clones. From the dusty trenches on Geonosis, to the ruined cities of Ord Mantell, HH-888 "Herf" goes through the war, developing a talent for urban warfare, going from lieutenant to marshall commander of the 812th.


**Chapter 1: First day at work**

I remember, even now, what you'd call "my first day at work". It was on that dusty red, bug infested hellhole know by the Galaxy as Geonosis. Where I would for the first time know death, where I would for the first time deal it and see it befall my comrades.

Official numbers state very few losses on Geonosis. I suppose they didn't want to give the Republic's people bad morale, make them think that they'd lose the war that early on. Truth to be told, we were all greenhorns back then. Sure, we had our training, but no training ever truly prepares you for facing those infernal machines.

The official reports never mentioned anything about the close-combat that ensued. In the reports it was all open fields and long ranged shooting. 'Suppose them politicians could get upset about the blood.

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"Forward!" called the Jedi leading the platoon I commanded. Blue stripes on arms and legs, I felt proud of my rank as lieutenant. I had been trained as an ARC-trooper*, and like many off my brethren, we were assigned minor commands during the battle of Geonosis, to test our leadership abilities.

With a scream of exhilaration I moved forward with my brothers, trailing behind the Jedi who were supposed to lead us, but who, by all appearances, were hardly aware of us. He ran headlong into the crossfire. A young, newly promoted Knight, I would later come to understand. My conviction of victory faltered as a blast from a Dwarf Spider droid tore through his ribcage, leaving a hole, searing with heat. But I lead on, and despite the fear I suddenly felt, I put it to good use. Four of my platoon-mates had already fallen under the barrage, so I ordered to find cover. Say what you will of Geo', but cover there was a plenty.

"Lieutenant, what's your orders? The Jedi has fallen!"

I breathed heavily; I thought the Jedi were supposed to be invincible, but this one had fallen quicker than you could say "Droid". I felt my entire body tense, even though I thought it was already tensed to a maximum. I got myself together though; I couldn't fail my brothers.

"Sergeant QT-452?"

"Yes sir?", replied he replied, his rank evident due to the green markings on his armour.

"Take four men, provide cover fire while the rest of the squad moves forward. On my mark!"

"Yes sir!" he replied, picking four of our brothers, indistinguishable in their now dirty armour.

I raised my macro-binos' and peeked over the boulder I was hiding behind. A sudden burst of laser fire forced me to duck, but I had at least identified the source of the fire.

"Fourfivetwo? Eleven 'O clock, machine gun battery. Open fire... now!"

As five men rose and started firing against the machine gun, manned by two B1s, the rest of us started advancing. Two screams behind us told me that some of our brave brothers had fallen.

"Everyone, down!"

The dry, coughing sound from the machine gun was once again heard, but soon ended. We advanced again, now under cover fire from QT-823 and four of his men. Gradually we approached the machine gun, and with a shoulder-fired shot from my own rifle I killed the two droids manning it. We had lost another three by then. And so we took the weapon for ourselves, and turned it to fire on it's previous owners. Soon another platoon of our brothers came scampering, lead by a bald Jedi with a purple lightsaber. By now I was careful around Jedi; the last one I'd seen so far had gotten himself killed twenty minutes ago. They might have their nice powers and shiny blades, but that didn't mean they had the brains for combat.

"Trooper", the Jedi inquired. "What's your status?"

I was just about to reply when a thermal detonator landed just between us. Before I could react, he had lifted it with this power of his, and flung it right back at its owner. By then I had trown myself in cover from its previous location. Suffice to say I felt slightly stupid when I stood up again, along with the rest of the platoon.

"Holding up sir", I replied, with more respect than I had originally intended. "We've captured this machine gun, and plan to make a stand against CIS forces trying to get past this point. A checkpoint for our boys to pass, if you will sir."

He looked at me for a moment, and I felt slightly nervous. Then he grinned, his white teeth contrasting his dark skin.

"Excellent idea. Where is the Jedi in command?"

"He didn't duck when the droids fired, sir. I lead the assault on the machine gun." Somehow I knew this would be his immediate question afterwards. The Jedi looked slightly surprised, but nodded.

"Then well done trooper - "

"Lieutenant, general."

"Very well: Lieutenant. Gather your platoon; you clearly know how to deal with these outposts. Half of the men I brought will take up positions here, the rest will follow you.

Of my platoon 27 remained, but the reinforcements gave me 45 men. A hefty number.

"Alright, brothers, forward!"

We advanced through the rocks and debris, with the Jedi following, observing. I was sure he'd be capable of grasping the basic principle if he saw us in action once, since instructing people on this would be a poor substitute for real practise.

We soon found our next target, a geonosian sonic gun which spew waves after waves at us and our mates. The only real solution was nearing it on two flanks, covering for our mates and shooting down the guarding B1s as we went. Only four of us died this time, and the Jedi did a good job at covering our asses from those pesky B1s. Once we finally claimed the emplacement we held it against several waves of enemy attacks, consisting mostly of stray geos and B1s. We got three B2s too, but with concentrated fire and a few grenades we took them down. The Jedi was of great help, and I realized maybe they weren't all that bad in a fight, pacifists as they were supposed to be.

For what seemed like hours we held our ground around that rock, constantly changing positions to face the next attack. Occasionally another group of our boys came by to continue into the battle beyond, but we didn't see them again. After a while, the Jedi master, apparently the legendary Mace Windu, followed four platoons into the onslaught, but we remained. After six hours of relentless sneaking and backfiring, the night fell upon us. Most of our cruisers where lifting of the ground into orbit, and we feared that we'd be stranded. Probably would have been, had not a cadre of LAATs been searching the area for survivors. We ended up on a transport with another Jedi, this one a woman, with satine blond hair and amber eyes. I suppose she was kinda pretty, but didn't pay any mind to it. I was busy keeping pressure on a shot-torn torso to keep one of my brothers from bleeding to death. After a few minutes she joined in to help. Maybe the Jedi that had been appointed to lead us earlier had simply been a young fool.

Then again, we were all young fools back then.

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The losses of the battle were immense, and I, along with several dozens of ARC-trained were promoted to fill the vacancy. Apparently general Windu had put in a good word for me. Four days after the battle, I got a new armour, painted red instead of the earlier blue. A few months after that, I was offered the pauldron and kamas that signified an ARC trooper, but declined. Sure, they gave some extra protection, but I found them to be more cumbersome than what it was worth.

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A/N

My first fanfic, written from the perspective of one of the clones, an OC who ends up the Marshall Commander of my made-up legion the 812th. This is his recounting of the war.

*Yes, I know the ARCs came into service later. I'm just theorizing that some commanders during the battle for 'Nosis had been trained in similar ways as the ARCs are.

Also, his name, when it appears, is Herf. For those who aren't half as geeky as me(not a bad thing), "Herf" is the Aurebesh equivalent of "H". His designation is HH-888, "H" being the eighth letter of the alphabet. Coincidence? I think not.

I'm going to try and use the unreliable narrative to some extent. 501st fans beware.

Also, if anyone would like to help me as a Beta reader, just PM me!

Please R&R!


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